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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Jaspers Edge Columbia in Final Second

BRONX, NEW YORK, November 13- The first two games of the season already have the feel of March Madness for the Manhattan Jaspers.

On Saturday, Manhattan defeated La Salle in double overtime and on Tuesday, the Jaspers pulled out a 71-70 victory at Columbia, scoring four points in the final four seconds for the win.

Trailing 70-67 with the clock winding down, Michael Alvarado pump-faked behind the three-point line to draw a foul and go to the free throw line for three shots with 4.0 seconds remaining in the game. Alvarado missed the first and made the second, prompting a Manhattan timeout.

After Alvarado intentionally missed the third free throw, the carom bounced to Emmy Andujar on the left side, who just missed an off-balance attempt to tie the game. But on the weak side was George Beamon, who banked in the follow-up attempt and drew a foul as the buzzer sounded.

The officials went to the reply monitor to confirm the made basket, sending Beamon to the line to complete the three-point play with 0.5 seconds showing on the clock and the score tied at 70-70. Beamon had made 12 of his 13 free throws already in the game and calmly sank his 13th of the game to give Manhattan a one-point advantage.

With half a second still remaining, Columbia's full-court inbounds pass was deflected by Emmy Andujar in the Columbia end. The Lions still had a chance with 0.3 seconds on the clock and ran an out of bounds play for freshman Luke Petrasek cutting toward the hoop. Petrasek got a hand on the inbounds pass from Isaac Cohen but his shot attempt glanced off the rim, sending the Jaspers' bench into a fit of jubilation for the second straight road contest.

Beamon poured in 28 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including all three three-pointers he attempted. Shane Richards matched his career-high with 19 points, making six of eight triples in the game.

Grant Mullins had 23 points to lead Columbia, including 21 in the second half.

Now 2-0 for the first time in four seasons, the Jaspers will take on George Washington in their home opener at Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday, November 16 at 7 p.m.